Stepbrother of Anthropic employee pulls AI ballot proposals after OpenAI asks watchdog to probe: I was naive
The California man behind a pair of AI-related ballot measures that appeared aimed at OpenAI has withdrawn the proposals – a move that came immediately after Sam Altman’s firm asked a local watchdog to investigate him.As The Post exclusively reported, OpenAI’s lawyers filed a complaint with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission on Monday that referenced East Bay native Alexander Oldham and cited “serious questions” about his potential motives.Oldham, a self-described “nobody” in the AI policy world, filed proposals that, if approved, would have empower state officials to regulate major AI firms.The complaint arose after The Post revealed that Oldham is the stepbrother of Zoe Blumenfeld, a senior employee at OpenAI’s chief rival Anthropic, and he also has ties to tech entrepreneur Guy Ravine, who has waged a bitter legal battle with OpenAI over who came up with the idea for the company.Oldham said he filed paperwork to withdraw the measures on Tuesday “due to threats and intimidation from primarily OpenAI” – an apparent reference to the FPPC complaint.“I was naive,” Oldham said in an interview with Politico.
“I don’t want any more negative consequences because I was stupid enough to think that I could just put an idea out for people to look at in today’s world.”Oldham also told the outlet that he had simply forgotten that his stepsister worked for Anthropic.He has vehemently denied that either Blumenfeld or Ravine had any involvement in crafting the measures.“I didn’t even think of her,” Oldham said.
“It is just a pure coincidence that she works for Anthropic, like I honestly didn’t even clock that.”Oldham previously told The Post that he used AI chatbots to craft the ballot measures and did not speak with any lawyers or outside consultants before filing them with the California attorney general’s office.He has insisted the measures were not targeted at OpenAI.Nonetheless, in the complaint to the FPPC, ...